I’m moving to the UK soon and I tried learning about the education system but it confuses me to the point when I stop thinking and sit in silence because I’m used to elementary and high school (at any age if it’s public school) but I don’t get the year 3 or 10 or levels or these capital letters put together and I wanna cry I’ve never felt this stupid.
Like, I’m in grade 10 and I’m going to London. Do they have textbooks? Can I get them online (for free haha)? I want to study it before going there. Do I choose what I want to learn? Please explain it calmly and in detail dissected please
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I went to school in the UK, I left about 5 years ago so I might be a little out of date for how it works, but basically;
– Start primary school at the age of 5, and they are then in ‘year 1’ (think of year groups like American ‘grades’)
– each July the school year ends and school holidays begin, the following September kids go up a year (e.g year 1 goes into year 2 etc)
– in year 6 (age 11) you take the first standardized tests – the SATs (Standardized Assessment Tests). You have SATs in each subject.
– Years 7-13 are ‘secondary school’ – think middle school and high school put together. Secondary schools look at a kids SATs scores to see whether they want the kid. Some schools have entrance tests, but not always.
– in year 7 (age 12) you normally do pre-chosen subjects by the school, but when you get into year 10 (age 15) you start learning for the next group of big exams – the GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education). You have to do GCSEs in certain subjects, maths, English, but this is where students first get to choose – if they want to drop history and religious studies, and pick up a new language for example. In total I think you need to do 11 subjects, but it’s been a while for me so it might be more/less.
– GCSEs are taken in year 11. Everyone has to do GCSEs, and stay in education until they turn 18, but after GCSEs you can choose to start an apprenticeship (basically paid to learn a job, which can be anything from building to carpentry to accounting), or you can stay in school to do AS or A levels (or BTEC but i don’t know much about those)
– AS levels – you normally pick 4 subjects, and they can be anything (as long as your school has teachers for it). Some schools have what’s called “Sixth Form” (which is just an old timey way of saying year 12 and year 13) where you’ll do AS levels, or A levels (which are a bit harder so you only do 3 subjects)
– universities will look at the grades your teachers predict in year 13 for your A level or AS levels. and give you an offer for a degree if you want to go to uni
In general the system is very standard and the same across the country. If you have any questions about what I’ve said (or fellow Brits want to correct me, I’ve been out of school for a while) just ask! It can be a confusing system even for kids who grew up in it.
As for textbooks, yes you can get them, I’d recommend looking on Google for that – I think the BBC has a lot of online resources for everything up until year 11.
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